I have thirteen marathons under my fuel belt. Thirty-seven more to go.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

RFE TR #34

Total Miles Trained For Elijah: 265

For the month of September, I ran 99 miles. Not too shabby -- considering being a bit sidelined.

This morning I rose at 5 AM. So late, I know! But my schedule called for nothing more. I left home at 6 AM. At 6:30 I arrived at the skate park amidst the North Little Rock River Trail. My mileage for today was reduced from 16 to 12 per Coach Terry due to my hamstring issues of late.

My Cabot Country Cruiser friend, Annette, needed to do 8 miles. One week from today she'll be running her first marathon - the Chicago Marathon - along with three other Cruisers! I am super jealous, seeing as how I went to college in Chicago. But oh well -- I'll get to hear all about it.

So I aimed to do 4 miles before she and fellow Crusier Kim arrived. A simple out-and-back course would do the trick. I ran towards downtown NLR instead of towards the Big Dam Bridge. Both routes would be fairly desolate. Well... as I approached mile #2, I realized that I needed a port-o-pottie like never before! So I was really, really clipping those miles. I also realized that there was someone kind of staggering way up ahead of me, going in the same direction as I. I was not concerned; I was about to turn back AND I was not a drunk. Well, just as I was about to come within close proximity to the staggerer (and turn around), the person dropped his/her pants as they sat on a bench! OMG! Believe me, I went in another direction quicker than you can say Runner's World. No danger; funny, really.

I did make it back to the port-o-pottie... but it was by some miracle. I decided that needing to go to the bathroom badly was the worst feeling in the world. I'd much prefer to have to throw up; that can be done quickly and you'll get sympathy from passers-by. Having to do an emergency squat will get you nothing but dirty looks!

Here are my first four miles:Mile 1: 11:03Mile 2: 11:06Mile 3: 11:03Mile 4: 10:28 (running as fast as possible to the port-o-pottie)

Annette and Kim had perfect timing; they were early. But my pottie break did slow me down... all miles after that were difficult, to some degree. But you know what? I had little to no hamstring pains!!!!

I really like running with Annette and fellow Cruisers; they challenge me. They have decided to join me for part of my upcoming 22-mile run from Benton to Malvern. Then we'll picnic at my house. Cool! AND several are running the half-marathon at St. Jude's -- so I'll have support along the course from them for the last half. :) AND Annette said she would wear a bright yellow shirt in honor of Elijah, also.

Once home I iced both hamstrings for 20 minutes and am feeling FINE. I am happy to be able to type that!

Susan your post cracked me up. I know what you mean about needing the portajohn rushing you along - i never have the problem at home as i run on our own land and it's all nature (..) but then I find myself in a race with 40000 other people and it's not quite so easy...

Good job on the run Susan. Your not going to believe it but my total miles for September were 99 exactly also. I was tempted to run one more tonight but the 3.1 I did this afternoon was enough after my 100 mile bike ride.

Susan - I really enjoyed the run on Sunday!! I'm so glad that we met and have been able to run together. Next run Susan's big 22 miler I can't wait.. I can say that since I'm not actually going to have to run 22 miles! ;)